Modeling the formation of N2 and CH4 frost on Pluto's slopes

L.Lange, T.Bertrand, V.Belissa, S.Capry, L.Young, A.Falco

Corresponding author: Lucas Lange, NASA Postdoctoral Fellow at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, PASADENA, CA, USA.
Email: lucas.lange@jpl.nasa.gov
© 2025. All rights reserved. 

Supporting information associated with the paper 'Modeling the formation of N2 and CH4 frost on Pluto's slopes'

- Data_Figure1.txt is a 360 x 5 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the array of sleep angle times the cosinus of the azimuth (referred to as tcp) [in degree, 1st column], the solar radiation of a 30 degree slopes at a latitude of 70degN [W/m-2, 2nd column] as a function of tcp, the solar radiation of a 30 degree slopes at a latitude of 30degN [W/m-2, 3rd column] as a function of tcp, the solar radiation of a 30 degree slopes at a latitude of 15degN [W/m-2, 4th column] as a function of tcp, the solar radiation of a 30 degree slopes at a latitude of 0degN [W/m-2, 5th column] as a function of tcp. This file has been used to generate Fig. 1

- Data_Figure3_muPluto.txt 35900851 x 1 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of mu derived from each point of the topographic map of Schenk et al. (2018). This file has been used to generate Fig. 3.
- Data_Figure3_muTriton.txt 8551780 x 1 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of mu derived from each point of the topographic map of Schenk et al. (2021). This file has been used to generate Fig. 3.
- The data for Mars can be retrieved at: Lange, L., Forget, F., Dupont, E., Vandemeulebrouck, R., Spiga, A., Millour, E., et al. (2023). Modelling slope microclimates in the Mars Planetary Climate Model [Dataset]. Harvard Dataverse. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/NDPNBB

- Data_Figure6a.txt 361 x 4 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of N2 frost per Ls [in m] for a 30deg South facing slope [2nd column], flat surface [3rd column], 30deg North facing slope [4th column] at latitude 40degN. This file was used to generate Figure 6a.

- Data_Figure6b.txt 361 x 4 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of CH4 frost per Ls [in mm] for a 30deg South facing slope [2nd column], flat surface [3rd column], 30deg North facing slope [4th column] at latitude 40degN. This file was used to generate Figure 6b.

- Data_Figure6c.txt 361 x 4 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of N2 frost per Ls [in m] for a 30deg South facing slope [2nd column], flat surface [3rd column], 30deg North facing slope [4th column] at latitude 20degN. This file was used to generate Figure 6c.

- Data_Figure6d.txt 361 x 4 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of CH4 frost per Ls [in mm] for a 30deg South facing slope [2nd column], flat surface [3rd column], 30deg North facing slope [4th column] at latitude 20degN. This file was used to generate Figure 6d.

- Data_Figure6e.txt 361 x 4 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of N2 frost per Ls [in m] for a 30deg South facing slope [2nd column], flat surface [3rd column], 30deg North facing slope [4th column] at latitude 0degN. This file was used to generate Figure 6e.

- Data_Figure6f.txt 361 x 4 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of CH4 frost per Ls [in mm] for a 30deg South facing slope [2nd column], flat surface [3rd column], 30deg North facing slope [4th column] at latitude 0degN. This file was used to generate Figure 6f.

- Data_Figure6g.txt 361 x 4 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of N2 frost per Ls [in m] for a 30deg South facing slope [2nd column], flat surface [3rd column], 30deg North facing slope [4th column] at latitude 10degS. This file was used to generate Figure 6g.

- Data_Figure6h.txt 361 x 4 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of CH4 frost per Ls [in mm] for a 30deg South facing slope [2nd column], flat surface [3rd column], 30deg North facing slope [4th column] at latitude 10degS. This file was used to generate Figure 6h.

- Data_Figure7a.txt 361 x 4 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of N2 frost per Ls [in m] for a 30deg North facing slope with an albedo of 0.8 [2nd column], 0.82  [3rd column], 0.78 [4th column] at latitude 20degN. This file was used to generate Figure 7a.

- Data_Figure7b.txt 361 x 6 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of CH4 frost per Ls [in mm] for a 30deg North facing slope with an albedo of 0.67 [2nd column], 0.69  [3rd column], 0.71 [4th column], 0.73 [4th column], 0.75 [4th column] at latitude 20degN. This file was used to generate Figure 7b.

- Data_Figure7c.txt 361 x 4 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of N2 frost per Ls [in m] for a 30deg North facing slope with an emissivity of 0.9 [2nd column], 0.92  [3rd column], 0.88 [4th column] at latitude 20degN. This file was used to generate Figure 7c.

- Data_Figure7d.txt 361 x 4 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of CH4 frost per Ls [in mm] for a 30deg North facing slope with an emissivity of 0.8 [2nd column], 0.81  [3rd column], 0.79 [4th column] at latitude 20degN. This file was used to generate Figure 7d.

- Data_Figure7e.txt 361 x 7 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of N2 frost per Ls [in m] for a 30deg North facing slope with a diurnal thermal inertia of 9 [2nd column], 5 [3rd column], 20 [4th column], and a bedrock thermal inertia of 400 [5th column], 1600 [6th column] at latitude 20degN. This file was used to generate Figure 7e.

- Data_Figure7f.txt 361 x 7 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of CH4 frost per Ls [in mm] for a 30deg North facing slope with a diurnal thermal inertia of 9 [2nd column], 5 [3rd column], 20 [4th column], and a bedrock thermal inertia of 400 [5th column], 1600 [6th column] at latitude 20degN. This file was used to generate Figure 7f.

- Data_Figure7g.txt 361 x 4 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of CH4 frost per Ls [in mm] for a 30deg North facing slope with a wind of 1 m/s [2nd column], 0.1 m/s [3rd column], 2 m/s [4th column] at latitude 20degN. This file was used to generate Figure 7g.

- Data_Figure7g.txt 361 x 6 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of CH4 frost per Ls [in mm] for a flat surface [2nd column], 10deg North-facing slope [3rd column], 20deg North-facing slope [4th column], 30deg North-facing slope [5th column], 40deg North-facing slope [6th column] at latitude 20degN. This file was used to generate Figure 7h.

- Data_Figure8b.txt 361 x 5 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of CH4 frost per Ls [in mm] for a flat surface [2nd column], 10deg North-facing slope [3rd column], 20deg North-facing slope [4th column], 30deg North-facing slope [5th column] at Venera Terra, assuming a CH4 albedo of 0.69. This file was used to generate Figure 8b.

- Data_Figure8d.txt 361 x 5 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of CH4 frost per Ls [in mm] for a flat surface [2nd column], 10deg North-facing slope [3rd column], 20deg North-facing slope [4th column], 30deg North-facing slope [5th column] at Virgil Fossae, assuming a CH4 albedo of 0.69. This file was used to generate Figure 8d.

- Data_Figure8f.txt 361 x 5 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of CH4 frost per Ls [in mm] for a flat surface [2nd column], 10deg North-facing slope [3rd column], 20deg North-facing slope [4th column], 30deg North-facing slope [5th column] at Beatrice Fossae, assuming a CH4 albedo of 0.69. This file was used to generate Figure 8f.

- Data_Figure8h.txt 361 x 5 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of CH4 frost per Ls [in mm] for a flat surface [2nd column], 10deg North-facing slope [3rd column], 20deg North-facing slope [4th column], 30deg North-facing slope [5th column] at South Cthulhu Regio, assuming a CH4 albedo of 0.69. This file was used to generate Figure 8h.

- Data_FigureA1b.txt 361 x 5 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of CH4 frost per Ls [in mm] for a flat surface [2nd column], 10deg North-facing slope [3rd column], 20deg North-facing slope [4th column], 30deg North-facing slope [5th column] at Venera Terra, assuming a CH4 albedo of 0.67. This file was used to generate Figure A1b.

- Data_FigureA1d.txt 361 x 5 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of CH4 frost per Ls [in mm] for a flat surface [2nd column], 10deg North-facing slope [3rd column], 20deg North-facing slope [4th column], 30deg North-facing slope [5th column] at Virgil Fossae, assuming a CH4 albedo of 0.67. This file was used to generate Figure A1d.

- Data_FigureA1f.txt 361 x 5 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of CH4 frost per Ls [in mm] for a flat surface [2nd column], 10deg North-facing slope [3rd column], 20deg North-facing slope [4th column], 30deg North-facing slope [5th column] at Beatrice Fossae, assuming a CH4 albedo of 0.67. This file was used to generate Figure A1f.

- Data_FigureA1h.txt 361 x 5 space separated table of floats in ascii format containing the value of Ls [in degree, 1st column], the amount of CH4 frost per Ls [in mm] for a flat surface [2nd column], 10deg North-facing slope [3rd column], 20deg North-facing slope [4th column], 30deg North-facing slope [5th column] at South Cthulhu Regio, assuming a CH4 albedo of 0.67. This file was used to generate Figure A1h.